Flax Seed Oil Benefits - Tips on Obtaining Them

It is a well-known fact that flax seed and flax seed oil benefits health in many ways. However, to truly reap the various flax oil benefits, you may want to take note of some useful tips, suggestions, guidelines and precautions with regard to storing and using flax.

Some General Guidelines and Precautions when consuming Flax Seeds and Flax Seed Oil

Flax Seeds and Flax Seed Meal

According to US government agencies, a safe level of flax intake is 2 tablespoons of flaxseed (3 tablespoons of flax meal) per day. This is probably an "effective dose" for health purposes, although, personally, I have no qualms about taking more.

Children should not be started on flax without consulting a medical professional.

Drink plenty of water. There is so much soluble fiber in flax that it is important to drink plenty of water when eating flax products, otherwise constipation may result.

If the whole flaxseeds are purchased, they would preferably need to be ground to get the benefit.

Flaxseeds may increase bleeding time. A medical professional is to be consulted if the individual is on a regimen of blood-thinning medications.

Flax Seed Oil or Flax Oil

Those who are watching their weight may want to take note of the fact that flax seed oil will add fat and calories to one's dietary intake.

Flax seed oil benefits can be reaped by mixing it with salads or other foods. Flax oil can also be consumed as part of the flax oil and cottage cheese mixture. Personally, using this method, which is an excellent way of getting the many flax seed oil benefits on health, I have gone as high as ten tablespoons a day, with no adverse effects whatsoever.

Easy ways to add flax seed or flax seed meal to your diet

One good way to obtain the numerous flax seed oil benefits is to add it to your daily foods. This is not difficult.

Flax seeds can be sprinkled on or mixed with other foods like yoghurt, fruits, salads, ricotta with sugar-free syrup, as well as blended in smoothies and shakes.

It can also be mixed in pancake or muffin batter or other baked goods, or to make a sweet porridge something akin to breakfast cereal to kick-start the day.

To improve digestion and absorption, flax seeds can be ground into flax seed meal / flax meal. This can be done by using an electronic coffee grinder. Doing this makes the flax oil benefits more easily digested by and available to the body.

Freshly ground flax seeds offer the excellent health benefits of lignans, and these healthful properties are quickly lost with time. It is thus not ideal to consume flax seed meal which was pre-grinded and stored.

Pour boiling water over the flax meal and stir well to make a porridge-like substance.

The amount of water to add can be varied according to one's taste. Generally speaking, a rough guideline is to use twice the amount of water as compared to the amount of flax seed meal.

This can be flavored sweet or savory, using either a pinch of salt or some natural sweeteners, again according to one's preference.

Allow the mixture to thicken for a few minutes as the flax seeds absorb the water.

If you find the mixture too thick, you can add more water.

This flax cereal can be eaten like porridge. It is healthy, nutritious and palatable. On top of that, you will have a feeling of satiety, and you will not be feeling hungry for a couple of hours.

Other Flax Seed Recipes to obtain Flax Seed Oil Benefits

There are other ways to consume flax seeds to obtain the main flax seed oil benefits. As mentioned earlier, they can be added into pancake mix, or used to make muffins and other baked foods.

They can also be used to make flax seed bread, which is available in some health food stores.

Choosing, Buying, Storing and Handling Flax Seed Oil

Flax seed oil is unsaturated and natural. Exposing it to open air or to light will cause oxidization and subsequent rancidity. When it goes rancid, not only are the health benefits of flax seed oil lost, it even becomes harmful to our health. Thus, flax oil must be carefully stored and handled.

When flax seeds are stored whole, the oil remains within the seeds and does not go bad. As long as the seeds are not subject to excessive heat, it can keep for many months, even beyond a year, without really losing any of the flax seed oil benefits within it.

However, once the oil is removed from the seeds, it is highly volatile and unstable. They must be kept away from light - this is why flax seed oil should always be stored in opaque bottles. Avoid flax oil which is being stored in transparent or translucent bottles, as light exposure spoils the healthful properties of the oil, and you will probably not be able to get flax seed oil benefits from such oil.

Flax seed oil must also be stored cool. Once a bottle is opened, it must be capped back properly and kept in the refrigerator. Upon opening, the oil should be consumed within a few weeks. Again, if these guidelines are not adhered to, the flax seed oil benefits are easily lost.

You may be thinking, why is it that most commercially available cooking oils can be stored in transparent bottles and exposed to the air and to light and yet not go bad. This is due to the fact that these oils have been processed in such a way as to make them more stable. While this greatly increases their shelf life, it also destroys their health benefits.

In fact, Dr Johanna Budwig, a German biochemist and founder of the flax oil and cottage cheese combination, even states that these processed oils are detrimental to health, and are a major cause of the escalating rates of chronic diseases today. She emphasized the important point that only unprocessed and natural flax seed oil benefits health in the ways we want it to.

Thus, when buying flax seed oil, always make sure that it is natural, pure, unfiltered, unprocessed and unrefined. This is the only way you are going to fully reap the flax oil benefits on health.

Cooking with Flax Seed Oil

As far as I am aware, cooking with flax seed oil is a no-no if one wants to reap the various flax seed oil benefits on health. In fact, I have come across material which indicates that cooking with flax seed oil not only destroys the healthful properties of the oil, but even creates harmful substances in it.

Flax Seed Oil Supplements

Besides whole flax seeds and flax seed oil, there are some other types of flax seed oil supplements, in particular some form of pills. Again, based on my knowledge, the sole best way to obtain the many flax seed oil benefits on health is to take the oil in its pure, raw, natural form; any other type of flax seed oil supplements is said to be limited in its positive health effects.

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